Love Held Captive

Lone Star Hero Series - Book 3

By Shelley Shepard Gray

Zondervan - October 2017

Inspirational Historical Romance

Major Ethan Kelly was just existing after the South lost the War of Northern Aggression when he found himself facing demons from his past. He was in his room at a hotel when a young woman entered it. Not only was she the woman whose situation had haunted his dreams during, and after, the war, but he learned that she had just escaped a potentially dangerous encounter with a man he knew. A disreputable colonel Ethan had been imprisoned with until the war ended.

Lizbeth Barclay had endured desperate times before, and she would again. She didn't intend to accept Ethan's help, but she found herself intrigued by him. His interest in her plight was admirable, but a single woman alone needed to always protect her reputation. She knew she would have to find a new source of employment, and that a future with Ethan wasn't feasible, regardless of what he thought.

Captain Devin Monroe wasn't knowledgeable on courting a woman, but he had taken a risk and approached the only woman who had captured his interest. Julianne VanFleet. But when faced with the truth of the choices and actions Julianne made during the war to ensure she and her grandmother survived, Devin tries to walk away. It wasn't just a matter of what she had done, but the man with whom she had been involved.

Julianne wasn't proud of her actions, but she couldn't regret that she had helped ease her grandmother's and her own situation. She had been desperate, but now she was trying to make a new life for herself. She couldn't run from the past, but she was trying to face the future. She might have once dreamed of a life with Devin, but she had known that he would turn away from her when he learned of her past.

Love Held Captive is a romance full of love, forgiveness, acceptance and closure. Without the war, the lives of these four individuals may never have crossed. Yet they did, and their lives are all the better for it. Ethan and Devin were part of a group of friends who knew they could count on one another when called. And Ethan with Lizbeth, and Devin with Julianne are able to find the happiness and peace only love can bring. I did not read the previous stories, and except for a few references to what is likely occurrences in them, Love Held Captive does stand on its own.

Kathy Andrico - KathysReviewCorner.com

FTC Disclaimer: I did receive a copy for review. However, this website only posts "good" reviews. If I cannot post a positive review, I notify whoever has provided me with the book/ARC/ebook.